William Morris

📍Red House, Red House Lane, Bexleyheath DA6 8JF, UK

“I grew up at Woodford Hall on the edge of Epping Forest, riding through the forest in a toy suit of armour, reading medieval romances and exploring old churches. At Oxford I met Edward Burne-Jones and fell under the spell of medieval art. In 1859 I married Jane Burden, and I wanted a house that would be a work of art in itself. My friend Philip Webb designed it with me, and we built it in an orchard in the countryside of Kent, at Upton near Bexleyheath, in red brick, with steep roofs, a well in the courtyard and gardens planned like outdoor rooms. We moved into Red House in 1860. Nothing in the shops was good enough to furnish it, so my friends and I made everything ourselves. Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Elizabeth Siddal, Jane and I painted murals and decorated furniture, embroidered hangings and designed stained glass, working together on long weekends full of laughter and games. Burne-Jones called it the beautifullest place on earth. Our daughters, Jenny and May, were born there. Out of that happy, shared work grew Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company, the firm we founded in 1861 to make furniture, wallpapers, textiles and stained glass for others. The commute to London became too much, and in 1865 I sold Red House with great sadness. But the ideals we lived there, that beauty and good craft should be part of everyday life, started the Arts and Crafts movement. Red House is now cared for by the National Trust, and some of the murals and painted furniture we made can still be seen.”

Sources: Wikipedia: Red House,_Bexleyheath nationaltrust.org.uk ribaj.com vam.ac.uk artiststudiomuseum.org